IKE STRIKE!
Hawgleg suspends operations due to hurricane
Sept. 22, 2008

TREED IN A driveway view of the Mitchell's home in NW Houston. Their house is to the right and that huge tree is perched right over thir master bedroom.  They believe the tree just "leaned over slowly" during the wind storms. If it had hit the house with a great deal of force, they believe it would have caused more damage.

For all intents and purposes, Hawgleg Publishing has been closed this past week due to damage caused by Hurricane Ike.  At 12:15 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, the high winds knocked down the power lines to Gutshot co-creator Mike Mitchell's house in Houston, Texas.  At about 5 a.m., the first tree blew over and crashed into the garage of their Northwest Houston home, blocking the driveway and blocked their access to two vehicles.  Around 6 a.m. the second tree landed on the roof right over the master bedroom. They are not certain when the other tree blew into the pool, nor when another tree snapped off and struck the rear porch, ripping it from the side of their two-story home.

So far, the power has been out for more than a week, and there are conflicting reports as to when it might return: some place it back on as early as Sept. 23 while others estimate that it could be out until Sept. 26. One report even places it into October. 

"We're very fortunate that we got off as lightly as we did," Mitchell said. "But we did sustain serious damage to the roof, porch, and there are leaks in the house. We also don't yet know if there has been any severe structural damage, and it's likely that we won't know until sometime in late October when the insurance adjusters and inspectors finally get around to checking us out."

Mitchell reports that, for the time being, Hawgleg is suspending most of its operations. Without electricity, it is not possible to ship orders or work on new projects.  The exact nature of the delays will be ascertained by the Hawgleg partners and details will be reported when they become available.

At this moment, please note the following:

• Existing orders will be shipped as soon as possible
• New orders will be processed whenever possible, but items may not go out until sometime in October.
• Arnica Real Estate buildings will be delayed
• The Showdowns & Shootouts contest will probably not resume for another 4-6 weeks
• Mitchell will not be attending any conventions for the rest of this year

THE NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE Just next door, the neighbors didn't fare as well as Mike and Donna.

Mitchell's neighbors didn't get off quite so lucky. One of their trees fell over on their house, destroying the roof to three rooms (including his computer room, which was soaked by the rains that accompanied the storm). The pouring rain came through the holes in the roof and leaked into the carpets and caused the downstairs ceailings to collapse. Mitchell and his wife walked through the house and were stunned by how much damage there was in such a short time. "Our neighbors decided that rebuilding was out of the question," said Dona Mitchell. "So she went down the street -- near her daughter's house -- and knocked on a door for a house that had been on the market for a while. She took one walk-through and then bought it and started moving her belongings in that very night."

"If you need a copy of Gutshot, please visit one of our retailers," said Gushot co-creator Mike Murphy. "Also, I'll be monitoring the forums and responding to questions and comments there. Additionally, I'll be using www.theminiaturespage.com as a means of communication. If you need me, just post a comment there, or send me a Private Message through TMP's PM system."

Most of all, Mitchell and his wife, Donna, would like to thank the many people who have contacted them and expressed concern and offered assistance and prayers in this difficult time.

"Right now, I'm not able to thank everyone individually," Mitchell said. "But I want to assure ya'll that your message did get to us and we really appreciated it. Thank you."